The present invention is directed to display devices and more particularly concerns a display device, system, and method for displaying one or more items such as trading cards, photographs, greeting cards, and the like, utilizing a protective item holder and a frame. The display device of the present invention can provide an aesthetically pleasing, and protective display for items including valuable, historic, sentimental, rare or fragile trading cards, photographs, prints, and the like.
Typically, valuable sports trading cards such as historic or rare baseball cards are kept in substantially rectangular, transparent, rigid, protective trading card holders, including front and back panels of lucite or other transparent material releasably joined together by a threaded fastener in each corner. These rigid transparent trading card holders protect the enclosed trading card from finger prints, moisture, mutilation or mangling during display, transport, or the like.
Such a conventional, rectangular trading card holder is used to display the trading card by placing the card in the holder and laying the holder on its back on a flat surface. A conventional 3".times.5".times.1/4" sports trading card holder is not able to stand vertically on end or on its side edge. A thicker sports card holder having dimensions of 31/2".times.53/4".times.1" can be stood on edge or on end but is unstable and may fall with a slight jarring of the holder or supporting surface. Attempts have been made to increase the stability of the holder by adding a heavy base.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,322,001, 5,121,563, and 5,133,450 disclose other types of sports card holders made of transparent materials which provide some protection for the enclosed card. U.S. Pat. No. 5,121,563 further discloses the addition of a flexible, V-shaped, detachable support member which clamps to the sides of the card holder and extends rearwardly therefrom to provide an upright or angled positioning of the holder. Again, this embodiment suffers from the drawback of being unstable, in that the contact point of the V-shaped support with a planar surface is near the apex of the support which allows the display holder to topple sidewardly given a jarring of the planar surface or of the display holder.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 339,237, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 341,277, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,237,763, and 5,263,567 disclose other baseball or trading card display devices.
Hence, there is a need for an improved display device, system and method for displaying items such as trading cards, including sports cards, racing cards, and other collecting cards, photographs, prints, drawings, and the like, and which provides an aesthetically pleasing, versatile, stable, angled, and/or protective display of such items.